Person-2-Person - October, 2023

When God told Jonah to go to the city of Nineveh and declare a message of warning (Jon. 1:1-2), Jonah thought the city of Nineveh and its people were too evil to be allowed to repent, so he defied God and ran away (vs. 3). And when God did allow the people of Nineveh to repent (3:6-10), Jonah told God he would rather die than live in a world where such people could be forgiven (4:1-3).

Jonah substituted his will for God’s and that’s called “sin.” But before we judge Jonah, let’s remember that there’s a little bit of him in us. Most of us have encountered someone who seemed to be “getting away with something/getting off Scot free” when they deserved to have the book thrown at them. In such instances, understanding, much less forgiveness, can be hard. It’s even written into Lord’s Prayer: “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” But no matter how difficult, we still need to forgive.

Jonah wasn’t the only one who substituted his will for God’s. When Jesus started talking about dying and being raised from dead, Peter took him aside and said, “‘God would never let this happen to you, Lord!’” (Matt. 16:22b Contemporary English Version). The irony is that this was right after Jesus asked, “‘But who do you say I am?’” (vs. 15b CEV) and Peter answered, “‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’” (vs. 16b CEV). In spite of that, Peter still didn’t fully understand what being the “Messiah” meant.

Jesus answered him, “‘Satan, get away from me! You’re in my way because you think like everyone else and not like God.’” (Matt. 16:23b CEV). In Hebrew, “Satan” means “accuser” or “adversary.” Jesus was saying Peter might as well be on the same side as the Scribes and Pharisees.

Later, Peter said to Jesus, “‘Remember, we have left everything to be your followers! What will we get?’” (Matt. 19:27b CEV). This time, Jesus told him a parable (20:1-16). A landowner had a vineyard and needed day laborers. He hired some first thing in the morning, about 6:00AM. He hired more at 9:00AM, more at Noon, more at 3:00PM, and finally hired one last batch at 5:00PM, an hour before quitting time. At the end of the day, the landowner had his foreman pay the workers. The foreman started with the workers who had been hired last and gave each a full day’s wage. The workers who had been hired first saw what happened and got excited, thinking they were going to get more. I can imagine them saying, “If they’re getting a day’s pay, just think how much we’ll get!” But instead, they each got the same as the ones who had worked for just an hour.

At that point, they complained—because, after all, it wasn’t fair. But the landowner said, “‘Take your money now and go! What business is it of yours if I want to pay them the same that I paid you?’” (vs. 14 CEV). Jesus was saying everyone would get what he or she had coming, that what mattered was the work, not the reward.

1 Timothy 2:4 says God wants everyone to be saved. It doesn’t say we deserve it, just that God wants it that way. Jesus said, “‘I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep, and they know me. Just as the Father knows me, I know the Father, and I give up my life for my sheep.’” (John 10:14-15 CEV). That’s what God considers “fair.”

In God’s eyes, “fair” means bringing about a new set of rules, a “kingdom”/“realm” unlike any other, where everyone is welcome, valued, and forgiven, whether he or she has been a part of it for years or only an hour, where everyone gets not what he or she “deserves” but what he or she needs. That was the point of the parable of the workers in the vineyard. Each worker got what he or she needed, and so would Peter, and so will we, and that was a whole new definition of “fair,” one worth sharing.

“‘The owner answered one of them, “Friend, I didn’t cheat you. I paid you exactly what we agreed on. Take your money now and go! What business is it of yours if I want to pay them the same that I paid you? Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Why should you be jealous, if I want to be generous?”
“Jesus then said, ‘So it is. Everyone who is now last will be first, and everyone who is first will be last.’” (Matt. 20:13-16 CEV.)

(Based on a sermon I preached September 24, 2023 at Centenary UMC in St. Louis.)